In ophthalmic lens production, particularly in contact lens production, and especially in the production of single wear contact lenses, the lenses are produced in a highly automated process. Such processes are well-known in the art. In one such process, a starting material is dispensed into a female mold half and then the mold is closed with the aid of the corresponding male mold half so as to form a mold cavity between the two mold halves. The mold cavity so formed has the shape of the contact lens to be produced. The starting material in the mold cavity is then polymerized and/or crosslinked so as to form the contact lens. Subsequently, the mold is opened and the contact lens is removed from the mold half to which it adheres for further processing.
The contact lenses are typically removed from the mold half with the aid of a vacuum gripper. However, one of the observations made during production of contact lenses in such a process is that conventional vacuum grippers are not in all cases capable of reliably removing the lens from the respective mold half. Even if they succeed, it may occur that a contact lens is damaged due to too high mechanical forces applied to the contact lens. This holds in particular for, but is not limited to, contact lenses made from silicon hydrogel materials. Such contact lenses strongly adhere to the mold half.
It is therefore an object of the invention to suggest an apparatus which allows for reliably removing a contact lens from the mold half and which avoids damage to the lens due to excess mechanical forces applied to the lens. In particular, such gripper should be capable of removing contact lenses made from silicon hydrogel materials from a mold half. In addition, the apparatus should be capable of being used in a highly automated production process.